BOSTON, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Six men were sentenced yesterday
in federal court for their roles in a $16 million scheme to obtain
fraudulent construction equipment loans from eleven commercial lenders.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Sharon E. Ormsby,
Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in
New England, announced that U.S. Chief District Judge Mark L. Wolf
sentenced the following defendants:

1) PETER V. MAGGIO, age 41, formerly of Wenham, Massachusetts, was
sentenced to serve an additional 8 years and 2 months in prison, to be
followed by 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay
$15,731,860 in restitution. Today's sentence will be served
consecutive to a 4 year and 3 month sentence MAGGIO is currently
serving for a prior federal conviction. MAGGIO pleaded guilty on April
19, 2006, to Conspiracy, 4 counts of Wire Fraud, 3 counts of Mail
Fraud and 3 counts of Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property.
2) MICHAEL O'NEILL, age 50, of 807 Cobblestone Court, West Chester,
Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 1 year and 9 months in prison, followed
by 3 years of supervised release. He was ordered to immediately begin
payment of $1,813,820 in restitution to The CIT Group, O'NEIIL's
former employer until he was terminated for his participation in the
frauds. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $7,500. O'NEILL pleaded
guilty on June 23, 2006, to Conspiracy, 2 counts of Wire Fraud and 1
count of Mail Fraud.
3) WILLIAM HOWE, age 65, of 53 Garfield Road, Melrose, Massachusetts, was
sentenced to 1 year and 9 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years
of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution in the
amount of $4,282,200. HOWE pleaded guilty on June 23, 2006, to
Conspiracy, 4 counts of Wire Fraud and 3 counts of Mail Fraud.
4) MATT HAVEY, age 35, of 130 Russell Street in Malden, Massachusetts, was
sentenced to serve 1 year and 3 months in prison, to be followed by 3
years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $437,104 in
restitution. HAVEY pleaded guilty on June 15, 2006, to Conspiracy, 1
count of Wire Fraud and 1 count of Mail Fraud.
5) LOUIS PARADISO, age 34, of 1739 Revere Beach Parkway in Everett,
Massachusetts, was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison, to be
followed by 3 years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay
$1,792,849 in restitution. PARADISO pleaded guilty on June 15, 2006,
to Conspiracy, 3 counts of Wire Fraud and 1 count of Mail Fraud.
6) SEAN SACCO, age 32, of 21 Frost Avenue in Dorchester, Massachusetts,
was sentenced to 2 years' probation. He was also ordered to pay
restitution in the amount of $420,878. SACCO pleaded guilty on June
15, 2006, to Conspiracy and 1 count of Mail Fraud.

A seventh co-defendant, JEFFREY DEVEAU, was sentenced by a U.S.
District Judge in Syracuse, New York on April 6, 2006, to 1 year and 1
day in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. He was
ordered to pay $15,655,337 in restitution.

At the earlier plea hearings, the prosecutor told the Court that,
had the case proceeded to trial, the Government's evidence would
have proven that from January 1998 to May 2000, the seven defendants
participated in a scheme using fraudulent loan applications, fictitious financial records and "straw" borrowers to obtain commercial
loans for the purchase and lease of heavy duty equipment for
MAGGIO's companies operating in Medford, Massachusetts under the
names Earth Site & Utility Corporation and Earth Management &
Equipment Co., Inc. The evidence at trial would have shown that DEVEAU,
who operated a construction equipment dealership in Syracuse, helped
MAGGIO obtain fraudulent loans for both real and fictitious purchases of
construction equipment through Deveau Tractor, Inc.

The evidence would also have proven that O'NEILL, who had been
the district sales manager for one of the commercial lenders, received
kickbacks and helped get more than $4.5 million in the fraudulent loans
approved by his company. Additional evidence at trial would have proven
that HOWE, an accountant, prepared fictitious financial documents for
submission to the lenders. The government's evidence would have
included proof that SACCO, PARADISO and HAVEY were "straw"
borrowers paid by MAGGIO to sign fraudulent loan documents in their
names when they had neither the ability nor the intention to repay the
loans.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild in
Sullivan's Economic Crimes Unit.

CONTACT: Samantha Martin of the U.S. Attorney's Office,
+1-617-748-3139

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